Season Four: Episode Twelve

Flattery will get you everywhere: Tell someone you like his tie, or that you think she is bright, and they are more likely to look on you favourably, even if they know the flattery is insincere. The approach works, Scientific American reports, because it feeds into the “above-average effect,” the view held by most people that they are above average (even though that’s statistically impossible). In a recent study, researchers in Hong Kong asked subjects to rate the appeal of a hypothetical new department store after looking at a promotional leaflet that directly praised the reader’s fashion instincts. (“Your dress sense in not only class but also chic.”) Even after acknowledging the flattery’s transparency, subjects rated the store more positively and said they were more likely to shop there. If someone tells us we look good, researchers say, we believe it, even if the flatterer’s motivation is obvious.

Courtesy of: The Week